East Greenwich Elects All-GOP Town Council

Mark Gee and Jeffrey Cianciolo will join incumbents Michael Isaacs, Henry Boezi and Michael Kiernan to make for an all-Republican Town Council as a result of Tuesday's election.

"I'm very pleased with our slate of candidates," said current-Council President Michael Isaacs, who led the field in votes, garnering 64% of the total in a seven-candidate field.  He and the four other Town Councilor-elects met at the Grille on Main last night to celebrate their victories. "We have a terrific group on the new Council and I think we will work very well together."

Democrat Joe Cardello and independent Jim Cullen were the two odd men out, gaining 44 and 40% of the vote. Cardello, a former East Greenwich Town Councilor, said he expected to perform better.

"I was suprised," he said. "I thought I was going to do better than I did. I guess the people of town are happy with the elected officials they currently have."

Several members of the new Council said the all-Republican group would not be a big shift from the current Council, which had one Democrat in Mark Schwager. Schwager lost in his campaign for a seat in the state senate to North Kingstown Republican Dawson Hodgson.

"I don't think the Council will change much," said Councilor Michael Kiernan, who took 57-percent of the vote. "Mark was a fiscal conservative, and I think Jeff and Mark are, too."

Gee and Cianciolo both ran their campaigns on platforms of fiscal conservancy.

"Debt service is going to go up," Cianciolo, who has served as the Town Moderator, said. "That's going to be a big challenge."

Henry Boezi said the commonality among the five new members of the Council is that they all care deeply about East Greenwich.

"These are five guys who are going to run this community as best they can," he said.